Farm to Table: Beans & Brunch

Part of my role as the Bentonville Farmers Market and Community Programs Manager is to promote local food. Farm to Table events combine local food, musicians, venues and community. The third Farm to Table of 2014 was Beans & Brunch!

The beans portion of Beans & Brunch was Airship Coffee. Bags of green coffee are stacked in rows, the roaster is huge and shiny and the aroma of coffee fills your nose. 

Mark and Amber, the owners of Airship, import specialty, green coffee from farmers that they have a personal relationship with. Mark's relationship with the growers is special because he is committed to help the farmers improve the quality of the coffee as well as drive demand. Airship provides coffee to many local restaurants and can also be found at the Bentonville Farmers Market. 

Brunch was served up by TrickDilly, a new local food truck. Troy and Rebecca are committed to doing a much local sourcing as possible and can be spotted shopping the market on Saturdays. Troy was so fun and easy to work with and created specialty tacos just for Beans & Brunch. 

Two and a half hours before the brunch was to be served, I delivered frozen bacon from Mason Creek Farm; sweet potatoes, red potatoes and apples from Horn Farms; and arugula and basil from Rocky Comfort Natural Farm and Troy and his team made it happen! Tacos were coming out of the trailer at a perfect pace, still fresh and warm but fast enough to fill our bellies!

Going on blind faith and several good review from friends, I booked The Sons of Otis Malone and they couldn't have been more perfect. Their lighthearted lyrics and upbeat rhythms kept the brunch lively. 

I believe that Farm to Table events allow us to connect. Connect to our local food system, business owners and each other.